Happy Friday the 13th! I don’t give this date any credence. But I thought it’d be fun to write out all the scary books I’ve read. Because it’s probably the shortest list of books you’ve ever seen.
1. Frankenstein
No, it isn’t really that scary. Not like the dumb movies supposedly based on it. But it’s still pretty eerie. And I absolutely love it.
2. The Fall of the House of Usher and other works by Edgar Allen Poe
I had to read these for school. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have touched them. People buried alive, implied incest, murder, ravens…shudder. Great writing, but not my cup of tea.
3. The Thirteenth Tale Again, just kind of eerie and “off.” Not material for a horror movie. If it had been, I wouldn’t have read it, believe me. It was a very intriguing story, though. Diane Setterfield is a darker Kate Morton in style.
4. Macbeth
Why can’t I count that as something scary I’ve read? There’s a ghost in it and a mad woman! For that matter, can I count Jane Eyre?
It seems my “scary” books list starts and ends with eerie to slightly eerie.
If I had to list the number of scary movies I’ve seen, the list would be even shorter than my scary book list. In fact, it doesn’t exist at all. Unless you count the movies that scared me as a child (E.T., The Wizard of Oz, etc.). I simply can’t do scary movies. Chalk it up to an overactive imagination or being too sensitive, they just appall me.
Is your scary book list long or short? I’m not planning on lengthening mine any time soon. Maybe someday I’ll work up the nerve to read some Wilkie Collins, but I doubt it.
I hope your Friday the 13th is full of good things and nothing scary.